Promise
by mintbanana
Summary: I promise too. I won't let anything touch your heart. I'll keep it safe, always.


_I haven't actually finished Birth By Sleep completely yet, but I've loved the TerraxAqua pairing pretty much since the opening movie of the game, and since I'm meant to be studying for an exam, I decided I'd write something about them. In any case, this is my version of the ending of the story, which I have a vague knowledge of. So this will be slightly different from the actual events, but bear with me. I will say though, there are still major spoilers for the endgame._

_In my mind, Terra is around 19, with Aqua 18 and Ven 15 or so, but you can apply whatever you believe their ages are._

_Italics are flashback sequences._

_

* * *

_

"Terra..." She could feel her eyes stinging, but she wouldn't let the tears fall. It wasn't the time for that; she was a Keyblade Master, and she had a job to do.

But... the man she was fighting made her strikes sloppy, weak. Despite the cold yellow eyes and the white hair, that body still belonged to Terra. But now the greasy, cloying feel of darkness rolled off him, surrounding her and making her shudder at its touch, that hulking monster of shadow grinning evilly over his shoulder. She could barely sense Terra beneath it, but there was still something there, she was sure. Maybe only because she couldn't face the thought that he could be gone from the world. That she might never see him again. Might never...

* * *

"_Aqua..." His breath was hot on the back of her neck, his presence sudden yet somehow unsurprising. She let herself lean back against him without thinking. His arms circled her waist, moulding her against him further._

"_Where's Ven?" she murmured, tilting her head up as he dipped his mouth to her shoulder. He made an irritated noise that sent vibrations across her skin._

"_Not _here_," he said, his voice a low growl. "Isn't that enough?"She pulled away from him a little, turning and catching one of his hands in her own._

"_We shouldn't be here either," she said, eyes sparkling as she tugged him along after her. "The Master might catch us, or Ven." His response was to quicken his pace and sweep her up into his arms._

"_Yours or mine?"_

_

* * *

_

"Terra!" Keyblade hit Keyblade in a shower of sparks and Aqua felt her legs buckle under the pressure of his assault. She pulled back and spun out of range, firing spells as she went. Xehanort grunted and fell back, the yellow eyes seeming to flicker brown for an instant. Or perhaps it was just the reflection from the fire that licked over his armour for a second. Perhaps just wishful thinking.

"You little fool. Do you still think you can reach him? He is _gone_ child. This body is mine. His heart is _mine_."

"No, I won't let you. _I won't let you."_ He wasn't expecting the speed with which she threw herself at him, drawing her Keyblade across his face as she passed, knocking him back and drawing blood from the wound. He gave a short cry and fell to his knees before rolling back and regaining his stance. The shadow creature pulsed behind him, its shape roiling like smoke.

But she didn't stop, didn't let him fully recover. Rushed him over and over until his movements became more and more laboured. Until the shadow creature gave a final scream and dissipated.

"Release him Xehanort!" she demanded, finally standing over him, her breathing fast and hard, and magic still crackling over her Keyblade. He looked up at her, those unnatural eyes full of hatred and madness.

"I told you already. This body, this heart, _is mine_." But something was happening. Something had changed. As he pulled himself back up into a standing position, his body locked, an aura of light emerging and rendering his movements stiff.

"Stop fighting _back_," he growled, his voice suddenly almost frantic, full of anger and shock at such a display of power.

"Terra!" Aqua took a step forward despite herself, almost unable to believe it. She'd known. She'd _known_ he was still in there somewhere. Xehanort grunted, still unable to take full control.

"This will teach you," he said suddenly. "Get out of _my heart_."

She saw him raising the Keyblade, raised her own to block a strike, and then cried out in horror as he sank it into his own chest, too quick for her to stop it.

"Say goodbye..." he panted, voice laden with insane satisfaction "To your precious _Terra_."

"No!"

* * *

_It was never meant to end up like this. Never meant to cross beyond friendship, beyond rivalry. But there had been too many accidental touches in those sparring matches that got carried away. Too many locked gazes over the table at meal times that led to them looking away quickly, faces hot. Too many little moments that shouldn't have happened but did anyway, until that time on Terra's eighteenth birthday where something finally _snapped_ and they fell on each other with little thought for the consequences of crossing that line._

_And it hadn't changed since. They were still drawn to each other just as strongly as they had been that night, and as Aqua tightened her grip on Terra's shoulders and felt him moan into her neck, she knew she couldn't change any of it. And she never wanted to._

_Terra, for all his strength, was always gentle, always so thorough. So hasty in all his decisions both in combat and elsewhere, Aqua had been surprised with the care he showed her whenever they were together. This time, just as with every time, she melted under his careful touches, pressing herself as close to him as she was able. A shiver went down her spine as he whispered her name into her ear, his voice rough and his breathing just a little faster than normal. She kissed him then, a moan vibrating in her throat as he pressed himself deeper and she felt them both toppling over that edge together._

"_Aqua... your heart is..."_

_

* * *

_

His Keyblade fell to the ground, disappearing as his eyes went blank. The shadow creature reappeared behind him as he started to fall, sinking into the darkness that suddenly pooled beneath him. And then he fell, and Aqua ran.

She dived in without thinking, chasing him. The darkness clawed at her, and she slapped at her armour hurriedly, missing several times in her haste. Finally, it enveloped her, and the feeling of the darkness eased. But she didn't care, summoning her Keyblade in its glider form and chasing after him in the darkness. She could feel the tears finally falling, streaking her cheeks behind her visor. But they were of desperation, not loss. Not yet. _Not yet._

She could see his body falling through the darkness, looking so fragile now. She increased her speed, fighting to keep the glider on course.

"The darkness can't have you!" she cried, more to reassure herself than anything else. She could still save him. There was still _time_. She finally reached him, stretching her hand through the void, finally grasping his. She had him. _There was still time_.

She swerved, pulled up toward the pinpoint of light in the distance. The way back. _The way home_. But the glider was failing, unable to bear the weight of them both and the light was slipping away. She knew she had to do something, or neither of them would make it back.

"Terra..." She knew what she had to do. The glider dissipated, restored to its Keyblade form, her armour disappearing with it. They hung in the darkness, suspended, but he was still in danger, and she would save him.

She pressed her Keyblade into his hands, and held herself close to him, just for an instant as she closed his fingers over it. Feeling more tears fall, she forced on a smile, and she kissed him, pressing her lips to those that had been his, and even though that darkness still clung to him, she hung on, until that glorious moment when she felt it peel away and that familiar warmth spread over her.

"Terra... I love you. You were right, that time when you told me my heart was yours. Look after it for me, until I find my way back, okay? Wherever you are, I'll find you. I promise, because it'll still be with you."

And then she tightened her hand around his, forcing him to hold onto the Keyblade, turning him towards the light.

"I'm with you. Go!" She pushed him, magic flowing through her fingertips, lending power to the Keyblade, sending him flying towards the light in the distance.

And then she fell into the darkness, not fighting anymore. It didn't matter; as long as he was safe...

* * *

"_Terra..."He looked at her from across the pillows, eyes heavy._

"_Yeah?"_

"_Tomorrow is the Masters' Exam. Finally..."_

"_Yeah, you excited? We've been training so long for it now. It's gonna be great when we're both Masters. We can finally travel to all those other worlds." She smiled at his words, but he noticed the uncertainty in it. "You're worried about it, huh?"_

"_I don't know. I just have a bad feeling. Like something's going to happen. Something's going to... change." His gaze became more intense, his expression more serious._

"_Aqua..."_

"_It's probably nothing. Just nerves. It'll be good to see new places." He suddenly pulled her to him, holding her close against his chest, his chin resting on top of her head._

"_Nothing's going to change. Not between us. It's like you're always saying; the three of us are one." He sat up and reached over to the bedside table, lifting up the two charms they had sat there earlier. Holding hers out to her, he smiled. "Just like that star-shaped fruit you told us about. As long as you have this, you've got my heart. As long as you want it."_

"_Terra..."_

"_And your heart is mine, and no one will take it away from me, alright? Nothing bad will happen, I promise." She smiled again as he kissed her forehead, and this time, it lit up her eyes._

"_Alright, I promise too. I won't let anything touch your heart. I'll keep it safe, always."_

_

* * *

_

"I'm... sorry... I tried... Terra..."


End file.
